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Chad’s DXM Report # 1 : “My mind felt as if it were floating away from my body”

First the basics of a good DXM trip. Found this out by a mixture of web research and personal experimentation.

1. Check your local drug store for Robitussin Cough Gels. These are ideal for tripping purposes. You don’t have to worry about getting sick by having to drink a lot of nasty cough medicine and you know the exact amount of DXM you are consuming. The downside is they are a bit pricey. Here they go for about 4 dollars a bottle and you need three to five bottles for a good trip.

2. Whatever route you take, pills or liquid, be absolutely sure that dextromethorphan is the only active ingredient. Many medications include Aspirin, Guaifenesin, Phenylephrine or other active chemicals that become toxic when taken in high dosages.

3. DXM is a psychedelic but it is also a dissociative. It is therefore grouped with drugs such as PCP and ketamine more often than drugs like LSD or psylocibin. Some people do not like dissociatives and end up having a bad trip. Personally I enjoy the effects. Consciousness seems to extract itself from the body.

4. The two classic side effects of robotripping are the robo-walk and robo-itches. I have not had the itching happen to me but it does happen to a lot of people – a nasty itching sensation covers the body. I’ve heard that an allergy medication like Benadryl can stop this side effect. Robo-walking comes with the territory. Your depth perception gets really screwed and the ground seems far away or really close. You stumble around like a drunk on a sailboat. From experience I suggest just taking it slow and sitting down to pee.

5. Dosage mainly depends on what type of experience you want. Below I quote some excellent guideline from Erowid:

“The chart below shows approximate recreational dosages for pure dextromethorphan, measured in milligrams (mg).

Oral DXM Dosages

Threshold

unknown

Light

100 - 200 mg

Common

200 - 400 mg

Strong

300 - 600 mg

Heavy

600 - 1500 mg

Risk of Death

2,500 - 20,000 mg

Duration : 4 - 8 hours
Some users report that DXM dosages are affected significantly by bodyweight and lighter users should start with lower dosages. Because everyone reacts differently, it is a better idea to start at lower dosages and slowly work up rather than jumping in at a higher dose. Some people are very sensitive to the effects and may be overwhelmed by dosages that are minimal for others.”

For my trip I purchased three bottles of Robitussin Cough Gels. At 15mg dxm per cap and 20 caps per bottle I got 300mg per bottle for a grand total of 900 mg. I took them all at 10 o’clock Saturday night. It took 45 minutes to an hour before any noticeable effects occurred. Caps take a while to dissolve and so the trip doesn’t hit as fast as a liquid induced one would. I read on one web page that you can chew the caps for faster onset but the user is warned this is a revolting process. I just swallowed the caps.

Got the cosmic laughter when the stuff first started kicking in. Waves of euphoria washed over me making me feel good both physically and emotionally. The robo-walk set in quickly and I stumbled around the living room for a while trying to get my bearings. I went outside for a bit and watched the stars. Beautiful.

I was in a heightened emotional state, similar to the kind induced by Ecstasy, and made my way slowly to the bedroom where my wife and little girl were asleep. My wife woke up when I stumbled into the dresser. I gushed out all kinds of love talk. She was happy I was feeling good and returned the sentiments but was happy when I left her alone to go back to sleep. I did my best to kiss my little girl but misjudged the distance and ended up smooching my pillow. I then went out for a smoke.

The euphoria continued and I was anxious to explore more of the trip. I drank some juice and laid down in the dark bedroom. Visuals are not a big part of robo-tripping but you can get them in higher dosages in dark surroundings. I pulled out my cd player and headphones and put on an album I always wanted to listed to while tripping – The Magnificent Void by Steve Roach. The experience was fantastic.

I looked up and saw clouds floating by on the ceiling. This was followed by swirling stars and geometrical shapes – much like hypnogogic imagery. Time seemed to slow as my body became increasingly numb as the dissociative effects set in. I had to move my body around several times to make sure it was still there. My mind felt as if it were floating away from my body. My breathing became deep and still. This phase of the trip lasted several hours. Any trip, especially the peak, is difficult to put into words. My mind soared into unknown realms while my body seemed far beneath me. I received a ‘gem’ (one of my own terms again – a gem is an insight that you have while tripping that you remember and can use once sober again.)

I leveled out for a few hours and finally started coming down about 5 in the morning. Had a bit of a hangover the next day but nothing serious – just tired. My wife was very kind and let me take a nap.

I had a great experience and am looking forward to doing it again. Next time I’m going to try a 1200 mg dose and, if that goes well, make another attempt at 1500 mg. Below are some good websites relating to dxm tripping. If you decide to try it tell me how it goes. I also would really like to buy that book you mentioned. I found it on Amazon and plan to purchase it soon.

…

Good Links on DXM:

http://www.erowid.org/chemicals/dxm/dxm.shtml

http://www.dextroverse.org/index2.shtml

http://www.third-plateau.org/

…

Note: This guest article was written by Chad. Thanks buddy! You can learn more about Chad and how his brain works be reading Dreaming Life’s fascinating interview with him in Exploring the Oneiroverse with Chad Watts: On Lucid Dreams, Entheogens, and the Spiritual Experience.

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Entheogen - Awakening the Divine Within - An Interview with Director Rod Mann

Please tell us about you film Entheogen: Awakening the Divine Within. What’s it about and why did you decide to make it?

The film Entheo:genesis is about discovering the ways in which we participate with the dance and flow of life— and how to maintain that flow. The film also gives us context from our history— from the evolution from indigenous tribes through shamanism through world religions throughout the course of history. Also how our civilization has participated with meaning, inspiration, and the grand metaphysical questions. We end the film with a contemporary perspective of the post-modern technosphere, which is cancerous on our biosphere, which we are embedded in and a big part of.

What was it like working with the likes of Alex Grey, Terrence McKenna, Daniel Pinchbeck, and other well-known figures in the entheogen and shamanic communities?

One of the greatest peripheral benefits of creating a piece like Entheo:genesis is having the opportunity to sit one-on-one in dialogue with some of the most inspirational minds and hearts–our elders on this planets. It was a tremendous honor to be able to work with and spend the countless hours in the editing room with reviewing these interviews and subjects vs. a thirty hour piece on the evolution of hula hoop in southern California. I’m not saying the hula hoop is not interesting. I like the hula hoop as much as the next man or woman does. I’m saying spending hours editing hula hoops in the hula hoop world would be my second choice if given the choice between these two.

I really love the subtitle Awakening the Divine Within, as it hints at the potential of entheogens to manifest mystical states of being. In that respect, what are your thoughts on the role of entheogens as a tool for spiritual exploration? Are these experiences legitimate expressions of spirituality?

I think entheogens can play an integral role in the birthing process of an individual who is coming from adolescence into adulthood. I think there are a lot of 30, 40 and 50 years olds walking around on the street still encapsulated in an adolescent mentality. Having the opportunity to study indigenous and shamanic use of entheogens as initiatory substances, I gained a profound respect for the sacred participation, and the sacred intentionality, which must be present in a journey of this sort. I believe that entheogens are not for everyone. I believe entheogens must be respected and in the right context, set, and setting, with the right intention. They can be an extremely potant catalyst for self-exploration, psychological processing, and spiritual reawakening.

Psychonauts can get divided over terms like entheogen, hallucinogen, psychedelic, dissociative, etc. What that in mind, what makes a substance an Entheogen?

Traditionally, entheogens describe plant based hallucinogens, which would include Salvia, Iboga, Ayahuasca, Psylocibin, San Pedro, etc.

Many people describe out of body experiences (OOBE) with entheogens such as Salvia Divinorum and Ayahausca. This aspect of the “drug experience” endlessly fascinates me and I’m curious to hear your thoughts on OOBE’s.

Well, I think that any entheogen or substance which induces an out of body experience yields one very important realization, which is that we are not our bodies, and there is some greater understanding of the psyche or the soul. Out of body experiences aren’t always limited to use of entheogens. There’s a great article here that offers new research— the article claims out of body experiences can be achieved using sensory deprivation with virtual reality goggles.

What do you think Entheogens can tell us about our own consciousness and sense of self?

I think that entheogens offer us a window into the deeper dimensions of our Self, our psyches, our behaviors, our subconscious patterns, and we may use these substances in the proper context of course, to do the necessary work, the individuation, bringing a sense of awareness to ego inflation and self importance so that through that process we may gain a stronger sense of our community and our families, and also regarding other species, plants, etc.—how we fit into the sempiternal interconnected web of life which sustains the whole of existence.

How have Entheogens shaped your worldview and affected you as a person?

Entheogens have had a tremendous impact on my worldview as some of the most potent experiences including inspiration of the most divine nature to isolation of the most fearful… I’m grateful for the opportunity to continue my practice on my own path, which includes evermore intention structure and absence of structure, gratitude and prayer when I journey.

Official Site: (DVD available for purchase here)

http://entheogen.tv/

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Trailer for Entheogen : Awakening the Divine Within (interview later this week!)

Below is a 9 minute trailer video for the film ENTHEOGEN: Awakening the Divine Within.

I’ll be posting an interview with director Rod Mann later this week!

Official description:

“Entheogen: Awakening the Divine Within is a feature length documentary which invites the viewer to rediscover an enchanted cosmos in the modern world by awakening to the divine within.

The film examines the re-emergence of archaic techniques of ecstacy in the modern world by weaving a synthesis of ecological and evolutionary awareness,electronic dance culture, and the current pharmacological re-evaluation of entheogenic compounds. Within a narrative framework that imagines consciousness itself to be evolving, Entheogen documents the emergence of techno-shamanism in the post-modern world that frames the following questions: How can a renewal of ancient initiatory rites of passage alleviate our ecological crisis? What do trance dancing and festivals celebrating unbridled artistic expression speak to in our collective psyche? How do we re-invent ourselves in a disenchanted world from which God has long ago withdrawn? Entheogen invites the viewer to consider that the answers to these questions lie within the consciousness of each and every human being, and are accessible if only we give ourselves permission to awaken to the divine within.

Stan Grof, Marilyn Schlitz, Ralph Metzner, Alex Grey, Terrence McKenna, John Markoff, Daniel Pinchbeck, and Kat Harrison among others, postulate how the disenchantment of the modern world may be remedied by summoning the courage to take the next leap in the evolution of planetary consciousness.”

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Take Your Drug-Geekdom to the Next Level

A few months ago I officially became a member of Erowid, the most popular website on psychedelics and altered states of mind.

I’ve used this website for years. I love it and I always said when I could, I would donate money to them, and so I finally did.

A bit after I joined, I noticed something shocking when visiting: google ads! Ahh! What?
Erowid’s been up for more than a decade and they’ve NEVER had any ads. From what I gather, they’ve always been against putting any ads up. They’ve been able to run solely through donations, which is awesome - but I guess this is no longer true now that they get 50,000 visitors a day, or 9 million a year.

If you go to any of the experience reports, (my favorites lately are the Ketamine, DMT, DXM (cough syrup), and Calea Z experience reports) you can see the ads on the right. It’s kinda funny as many of them are the sort of ads you see if you do a google search for phrases like “buy vicodin no prescription” or “buy drugs online no prescription”. I’m guessing it’s precisely that kind of thing that kept them away from putting ads on their page for so long.

Anyhow, my point of posting this here is just to get the word out on Erowid’s funding troubles. If you become a member, not only do you get the pleasure of having the membership credentials to prove you’re a genuine drug geek, you get some free stuff, like a tshirt and a subscription to their newsletter.

For $40 I got the newsletter and a shirt with the image below. Check out the donation page for the rest of the designs!

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NeuroSoup’s 2 Part Video on Entheogens

Here’s a 2 part video on this woman’s personal experience on Entheogens and integrating the experiences into her day to day life. Very interesting stuff and I love that she just puts it all out there!!!

Check out more at NeuroSoup, my favorite new website!

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Video Clip on Using Entheogens INSIDE A Lucid Dream to Trip

She also discusses the idea of intentionally accessing the DMT inside our own body, as opposed to taking in from plants elsewhere, to experience its mindblowing effects, and using 5-MEO-DMT as to enhance your dreams. She even says she had shared dreams with the other people she used 5-MEO-DMT with!

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